Trade-in value vs advertised prices

DriveSkill

I have a 2011 BMW 520D Touring SE Auto with 105K Km, FSH, Clean overall.

Quick google search would show options advertised from around 15K privately to approx 26K for models in main dealers. The lower priced tend to be UK imports and private obviously.

So armed with that I was expecting perhaps 17-20K as a trade in off the 'sticker price' when I went to trade up - initial options looked at were new 5 Series (€55K) and A6 €45-50K . I was a little disappointed

I've was offered 12.5K :eek: off an A6 (pre reg 171, €47K) logic was the A6 was already discounted as part of a sale so little to play with. Not really a sale I guess if it means they just devalue trade-ins by the same discount they take off the sticker price I guess it works for cash buyers.

BMW offering 16K off a new 520 which maybe is more understandable as its a new model but still not too enticing...

Am I expecting too much ? I know as always the best solution by far would be to sell privately and perhaps make 16-18K and then go for the cash purchase but its not easy to get the timing right etc and could take some time to sell etc.

What do you think - its only 2 examples and lots of other dealers around but I was really just testing the water and see if it was a good time to change. Based on experience so far I think best to hold on to it for another while and maybe look in a years time or so....

I did hear some good 'stories' from the BMW sales guy :rolleyes:

• A UK car is worth exactly the same as an Irish car and the lowest priced one available is always what you compare to.
• I should expect my car to lose €7K per year even after 5 years so "I'm doing well" as he calculated mine depreciated something like €6.3K per year

useless

I had a similar enough experience with a different car lately. Looked for a trade in price on my vgc low mileage 11 S-Max against a new XC90. Was offered 12.5k when similar cars (with slightly less spec and higher miles) online are asking 17k-20k. The dealer themselves have an 11 model for sale at 19k... no deal.

Casati

DriveSkill wrote: »

I have a 2011 BMW 520D Touring SE Auto with 105K Km, FSH, Clean overall.

Quick google search would show options advertised from around 15K privately to approx 26K for models in main dealers. The lower priced tend to be UK imports and private obviously.

So armed with that I was expecting perhaps 17-20K as a trade in off the 'sticker price' when I went to trade up - initial options looked at were new 5 Series (€55K) and A6 €45-50K . I was a little disappointed

I've was offered 12.5K :eek: off an A6 (pre reg 171, €47K) logic was the A6 was already discounted as part of a sale so little to play with. Not really a sale I guess if it means they just devalue trade-ins by the same discount they take off the sticker price I guess it works for cash buyers.

BMW offering 16K off a new 520 which maybe is more understandable as its a new model but still not too enticing...

Am I expecting too much ? I know as always the best solution by far would be to sell privately and perhaps make 16-18K and then go for the cash purchase but its not easy to get the timing right etc and could take some time to sell etc.

What do you think - its only 2 examples and lots of other dealers around but I was really just testing the water and see if it was a good time to change. Based on experience so far I think best to hold on to it for another while and maybe look in a years time or so....

I did hear some good 'stories' from the BMW sales guy :rolleyes:

• A UK car is worth exactly the same as an Irish car and the lowest priced one available is always what you compare to.
• I should expect my car to lose €7K per year even after 5 years so "I'm doing well" as he calculated mine depreciated something like €6.3K per year

Im sure those in the trade will be on shortly telling you the dealer won't retail your car as its simply too old for them to bother with it - as such your dealer is right in that he is taking the easy option to pass it off to the trade and as such is pricing it in line with the lowest priced/ approx. cost to buy one cheap in U.K. and import - i.e the absolute minimum your car is worth. If it was a 2012/2013 they would retail it but deduct a few grand for cleaning/ servicing and another few grand to stick warranty on it! Either way I'm sure the main dealer made you think like he was doing you a favour even talking to you.

Your car certainly sounds like a car that would be worth 16k/17k selling private as the estate is rarer and sought after, plus the miles are v low for the age. You'd do a lot better trying to trade it to a dealer who you see selling slightly older cars (i.e. 2009/2010) or ideally to maximise your value sell private and bargain hard on a 171

bazz26

Reality is that if there is a discount off a new car's price then it has a knock on effect on the values of second hand models too. The discount can either be applied to the new car or the trade-in but not both. Then you have UK imports which are cheaper to buy that similar models here so that effects resale values too. Depreciation is also a factor, the depreciation on these type cars is crazy and the figures being quoted are not far off. The fact that the 5 Series has been replaced with a new model only makes resale values even more depressing.

I traded a 2011 5 Series up for a 2014 5 Series just over a year ago and paid big money to do so, I'd imagine it would be costing even crazier money to go up to the new model now but I won't be doing that as I'm done spending those type of figures just to keep up.

Being honest I wouldn't bother with the current A6 unless they were giving you an irresistible deal on it (which they are not), it's an outdated model at this stage and you would be back to square one when the new model arrives in that you will be trying to trade up from an old model with heavy depreciation.

Personally if it were me and I was able to sell your current car privately then I'd probably wait and go to the UK to pick up a 6 month old new model 5 Series.

bazz26

How much will bringing in a similar 6 year old F11 from the UK cost you? That is what you have to think about if trying to value your car.

DriveSkill

bazz26 wrote: »

How much will bringing in a similar 6 year old F11 from the UK cost you? That is what you have to think about if trying to value your car.

So very, very rough figures....

Auto trader tells me average dealer selling price is around £13K stg so let's assume €15K

Revenue VRT calculation gives €3,300

So looking in the region of €18K it would appear excluding travel costs etc

Now may be at the high end as doesn't take account of bargaining the dealer but I think €17-€18K is still a reasonable valuation for mine.

Btw personally I don't think a U.K. car is worth same as an Irish car assuming all else being equal....the mph speedometer would annoy me so I would always buy the Irish one first or at least expect a discount on the U.K. one. I know some people wouldn't care and there are counter arguments about sometimes better spec etc.

The other annoying part is dealers talk out of both sides of their mouths :-) in this case the U.K. ones are the best thing since sliced bread and worth exactly same as Irish . But if mine happened to be a U.K. car I'm sure I'd get the ... salt on the roads over there destroys the cars....lots of them coming in clocked .... different speedo... could have been a write-off ... can't give you as much for it as if it was an Irish car :-)

DriveSkill

I agree on the A6, was not at all wowed by them - they are showing their age and being the generation behind in terms of technology or any kind of autonomous driving features.

Spending €35K to change I want to be getting some new toys that I don't have now!

Even at the SE Business spec the only thing I would really get is memory seats over and above what my current car has. A6 did have SatNav but no traffic which is what I really use my current TomTom for every commute so I would just end up sticking with that.

bazz26

I really don't get the speedo thing, we drove here with mph/kph clocks for decades, we now have kph only for 12 years and suddenly some people see driving with a mph/kph speedo as annoying. It takes about a day to adapt the same way it did when we switched over the otherway 12 years ago. Also most UK models are higher spec and have better service histories than similar Irish cars. My current and last 5 Series were UK cars and much higher spec than your average Paddy spec model.

I do agree though that dealers speak out of both ends of their mouth but then again that's their job - to make as much money on a deal as possible.

Shane732

Well I went to trade in a low mileage high spec 430D M-Sport against a M2 recently with a main BMW dealer. I was offered €28k as a trade in with the cheapest 430D retailing at €38k.

She tried to justify the difference by saying that it would cost them €4k to put my car on the forecourt. My arse, still in warranty, service pack etc...

In summary, I'm afraid no matter what you do you're going to get screwed when you trade in. Just make sure you have a belt on, at least that makes it harder for them to take your trousers down.

carsfan2

I wouldn't have thought the m2 was flying out the doors.
I visited 2 bmw dealers this weekend and both had m2's on the showroom floor.

bmwguy

It's trade in value (an actual figure) v advertised figure (not an actual selling price).

Just using the example above 28k was offered and 38 was a like for like for sale on the forecourt.

That 38k car will likely go for 35/36k or so, closing the gap a bit.

I have no love for dealers I used to work in one in a non sales role the rubbish they say about preparing for sale is just talk. They have a valet team on minimum wage and will have it ready that day. In a small number of cases there will be a small service to be done but nothing like the 7k difference still there.

It's all profit on the sale.

Casati

bmwguy wrote: »

It's trade in value (an actual figure) v advertised figure (not an actual selling price).

Just using the example above 28k was offered and 38 was a like for like for sale on the forecourt.

That 38k car will likely go for 35/36k or so, closing the gap a bit.

I have no love for dealers I used to work in one in a non sales role the rubbish they say about preparing for sale is just talk. They have a valet team on minimum wage and will have it ready that day. In a small number of cases there will be a small service to be done but nothing like the 7k difference still there.

It's all profit on the sale.

If that dealer would discount their 430D by 3k then its logical to assume they would also discount the M2 by at least the same amount as its a more expensive car - as such the 28k trade in offer might be nearer to a 25/26k cash offer. From what I see on boards it appears that most premium dealers want a 10k gross profit on every car they sell, seems like rather a lot!

Henry Ford III

The country is awash with BMW 520d's. A buddy of mine can't get a bite on his - even though it's a nice car and well priced.

DriveSkill

Henry Ford III wrote: »

The country is awash with BMW 520d's. A buddy of mine can't get a bite on his - even though it's a nice car and well priced.

The Touring version is a little less common but I agree in general with the 520D.

For 2011 models there are 34 Touring advertised on Carzone (only 12 with <80K Miles) but 206 Saloons. I know when I bought mine back in 2013 I ended up going to Galway (from Cork) to get it as the number of them available was pretty limited.

Anyway I've decided I will keep it for another 6-12 months and see how things look then with perhaps a 172 ex-demo or so.